Look To Congestion Tolling, Transit To Unblock Highways

In 1999, the consultant Michael Gallis said that Connecticut was in danger of becoming an "economic cul-de-sac" because of bottlenecked transportation.

Fifteen years later, this oft-repeated phrase appears prophetic. Rail service on the Metro-North line has become slow and unreliable because of decades of disinvestment and deferred maintenance. Over on I-95 — the highway that was supposed to make railroads obsolete — congestion is so bad parts of it can be mistaken for a parking lot or a still-life painting.

If Connecticut cannot move people and goods freely to New York, as well as other points north and south, the state's economy will suffer. Indeed, it already is being dragged down.

According to metrics developed by the respected Texas A&M Transportation Institute, traffic congestion on I-95 in 2011 resulted in a waste of 41 million hours and $860 million from sitting in traffic (which increased by 19 percent between 2001 to 2011). The traffic jams are often more than 20 miles long and can take four hours or more to dissipate.

Things aren't much better on I-84 through Hartford, where 23 million hours and $479 million was wasted in lost work time and wasted fuel from traffic congestion.

This situation must be addressed as quickly and effectively as possible. The four movable rail bridges on the New Haven Line, each more than a century old, must be replaced as expeditiously as possible. They are badly deteriorated and breaking down, delaying service in the busiest rail corridor in the country.

Tolls

On the highway side, one thing that might mitigate congestion is tolls.

The state Department of Transportation is in the midst of a congestion relief study aimed at the state's two main interstate highways. One option being considered is called "congestion pricing," a tool now used in several states. One variation of this is electronic time-of-day pricing. The state installs overhead electronic tolls — no more toll booths — and charges higher tolls at peak hours.

Another option is to create an "express toll lane" on these highways, giving motorists the option of paying to drive in a faster-moving lane. In Greater Hartford, it might be possible to turn the HOV lanes into express toll lanes, though if this option is pursued the lanes should remain free for carpools.

The DOT recently had transportation officials in from Florida, California and Washington state for two forums on congestion relief. These states all use some form of congestion pricing, and the panelists said it works: It reduces congestion and thus travel times. They said drivers, even low-income drivers, like the choice of having an express lane available or having other options such as transit.

Transit

Congestion pricing encourages people to use transit, the panelists said, as long as there is decent transit available. So rail (and bus) improvements are intimately connected with highway congestion relief. Traffic on I-84 in the Hartford area increased by 39 percent from 2001 to 2011. If that continues, the new CTfastrak busway will look like a very good idea, one that should grow in other directions.

Although there are actually more cars on I-84 through Hartford — 175,000 a day — there is more congestion in I-95 west of New Haven, particularly between Bridgeport and Stamford. There are no HOV lanes there to convert. The DOT is looking at realigning the road and narrowing the travel lanes slightly to see if an express lane could be shoehorned onto the busy highway. With the volume of traffic on I-95, it's hard to imagine it remaining a viable travel option without a carpool or express bus lane.

The final challenge will be public acceptance. Many people have to get over the pervasive if infantile notion that, as one panelist put it, the freeways are free. But, said the panelists, people eventually get it.